conversation sacred heart might be affected. i have multiple chronic conditions that require treatment and consultations through several doctors. three of my doctors are with white wilson three with sacred heard. my rheumatologist is a sacred heart. and the only rheumatologist. i'm legally blind so transport to another doctor out of town is difficult and expensive. of the plans that are available that allow me to keep my doctor the annual out of pocket is significantly higher as well as the copayment and deductible for patient visit. my choice has been reduced to finding all new doctors or enrolling in a different medicare slang plan which will cost more. i wanted the senator to be aware that medicare clients are experiencing negative consequences from aca as well. since that time, by the way,

after this experience. she has been able to find a plan that helps her avoid all six of her doctors including a five specialist in the primary care physician. here is the catch. the new plan? it's out of pocket costs are now going from $4 ,000 to $45 00 range. it's now going up to an expected $5,900. it was a tough decision for her to make. she ultimate decided to pay more money in order to keep seeing the doctors that have been treating her for the past four to six years. it's a real live story of a medicare advantage recipient in the country whose out of pocket costs are going up because of obamacare. it's wrong. it is unfair. it should not stand. i yield the floor. >> mr. president? >> senator from new hampshire. >> thank you, mr. president. i came to the floor yesterday to share so many stories i'm receiving from my constituents about them receiving cancellations for policies they wanted to keep, higher premium under the law.

each story is very sad. i feel badly for the people of my state and across this country who are suffering under this law. my constituents are pleading for relief. here is just one example: a small business owner from new hampshire who voted for president obama twice told me that her family has a household income of $50,000, and their total health insurance will now cost over $19,000 for the year. which is more than their mortgage. and their local hospital isn't even on the exchange because in new hampshire, we only have one insurer on the exchange and ten of our 26 hospitals have been excluded from that exchange. .. frustrated, afraid and angry beyond words. i urge a postponement of implementation of the affordable care act while those with the power look harder at the average american and come up with a better plan.

life shouldn't be this hard." mr. president, citizens from across new hampshire and this country are crying out for relief. i hope the president will listen to them and call a time-out on this law so that we can come together and rather than what was done in this chamber -- passing a partisan law -- come together for bipartisan health care solutions. pde solutions. thank you, mr. president. >> the senator from kansas. >> president, thank you, it is: hard to narrow down the best story to tell.t sto they are all bad stories,ad terrible stories.sans t but people are struggling undert the consequences of the passaget of the affordable care act, andn it bothers me so many times it is that suggestion that this ist a problem with implementation, d with the problems of americans in chances are facing today really is the crux, the underlying basis for thesot provisions of the affordable care act.emtati this is not a problem withobm.

implementation, not just a computer problem but the theoryt on which the affordable care acb was based. des the example i would like toues e describe to my colleagues in the senate is from a constituent inn newton, kan.l he writes to tell me that we were notified by our healthin insurance carrier that our premiums on our small business by were to increase 24% on our renewal date because of the coverage mandated by the a affordable care act starting inr 2014. as a small-business owner in our late 50's we have struggled to find affordable health care insurance for years. a about two years ago we were abls to sign up for a plan offered to small businesses through a well known carrier.ince it was not a cadillac plan, since we each have $5,000 c deductible and no coverage for maternity, contraception, but id covered the things we wanted and did need. unfortunately, the premium the increase is going to put this ua

plan in the on affordable range. once again. i have not yet been able to get on health care. the few times i have tried it has either been down or locked t up. as a business owner the time ioa have to spend messing aroundno with a slow or not responsive website is limited and expensive .elp, mr. president, our constituents need help, and the affordable care act is what they need help from. i yield the floor.the esid >> mr. president's. >> the senator from kentucky. >> the president promised the le american people, if you like her doctor you can keep him or her, promised a few larger insurance to keep it.ie well, he needs to tell they family why they cannot keep their h insurance. they had an individual policyh. that they were happy with. it paid $300 per month and are a now going to be asked to pay $900 a month for things that fot they don't want and tell -- didj

not choose to have.e. this is not really just about fo health care. this is about freedom of choice. this is about weather not you we can choose what type of insurance you want. the question is what is next. what choices will be taken from. us. i am going to be signing up for5 obamacare. i tried yesterday 15 times.creae i was not able to get beyond create an account because every time i pressed create an account nothing happened. this is a real problem. 5 million people without i insurance. the president said if you can keep your insurance, you should be allowed to. you can keep your doctor. something has to be done becausa the mangy any family will have to pay three times as much for n an insurance policy they don'tt. want. we are taking their freedom ofay choice away.noh. i, for one, say enough is enough. let's give rid of this, giveumee back freedom to the consumerami. commander back freedom toencky, kentucky families. in kentucky ten times more

families have been canceled them have actually gone on. something has to give. why mr. president, if you said you can keep our doctor >> mr. president. >> the senator from texas. >> mr. president, millions across this country of losing their health care. in texas this past week the austin american statesman reported that boston's largest provider of cancer treatment won't participate in the health insurance plans offered through the marketplace set up by the affordable care act.

indeed, they went on to ," obamacare looked like sunshine on the horizon. now it is a tornado. one austenite who is being treated at texas' oncology. in an upcoming issue, texas medicine, a publication from the texas medical association references survey by the medical group management association that says on -- uncertainty as 40% a position practices across the country pondering their participation in marketplace based insurance plans. and by reducing there risk taxes ontology is passing a burden on to some already stressed families. it is an unwelcome burden and could seriously affect thousands of families to deal with cancer in our communities. if the family is forced to pay

out of network rates to treat his wife and family will have to make some tough decisions. we will make the financial sacrifice necessary to purchase the best of care that we can afford and hope that is enough. but he continued, nothing positive to say about the people who provide care at texas and ecology, but he also said, expanding health care card rates to people would not have it is a noble, but the impact that has on those of us to do have it remains to be seen. folks in the individual market cannot really know what is in store. mr. president, president obama promised the american people, if you like your health care plan you can keep it. we now know that promise was not true. obamacare is not working, and it is time to start over. thank you. >> from arizona. >> mr. president, my colleagues,

i think all of us have heard from hundreds of constituents in the past couple of weeks to have had their insurance policies canceled or their insurance policies have been made an affordable by the affordable care act. i want to talk for a man about greg and linda live just a couple of doors down for me. i heard from right earlier this week. greg and london are in their late fifties, early 60's and know at this stage in life what kind of policy in need. they know what they did not need they had a premium of about $400 under their old policy. they paid $440 to be exact. the new plan that they have been able to find that matches most closely with what they have now after their of the policy was canceled what cost than just over a thousand dollars, $1,055 to be exact. hal is that affordable? the president promised if you like your plan you can keep it.

if you like your doctor you can keep it. him or her. that has not been the case. the president needs to explain to gray in london and hundreds of thousands of others are losing their health coverage hallett is that he said that they could keep it and they now cannot. i yield four. >> mr. president. >> from utah. >> mr. president, the president of the united states promised, if you like your plan you can keep it. we now all know that that simply was not true. the many of us have said and have been saying for years that many americans, including many in my state are realizing the pain of the president's false statement. dave from utah says my company just dropped the big insurance plan we've had for years due to obamacare. the affordable care act is costing me more money. and barely able to keep my

family out of poverty. now health care is going to cost even more. please do something to change it. marcy from utah said we own a small business in utah and will be forced to cancel our insurance and go on obamacare. we can start over with a new way to fix their health care system, but starting over is not necessarily have to me starting from scratch. we should take those lessons that we have learned, build a around the concept, the market-driven patient-centered out their system, one that empowers individual americans to choose their own health insurance based upon their own personal need and based on their own preferences. thank you, mr. president. >> the senator from south carolina. >> two stories i will quickly share. scott from perris creek, south carolina, college professor at columbia, south carolina, and a private university.

insurance open enrollment and 35 years old, vegetarian, never smoked, ridiculously low blood pressure and cholesterol. i have nothing in common with this guy. my share of premiums went up 35 to 40%. in addition to my actual policy changed. my deductibles tripled from 2n $50 to 70 and $50. i cannot get regular of prescriptions and a pharmacy. i am sure that other changes that i have not examined close enough to notice. after submitting his personal information on health care we received a phone call from mr. justin hadley who informed him that when he signed he received all of their personal information. this is beginning to be a very famous case. 572 people a been enrolled in

obamacare in the state of south carolina. most -- mr. president, obamacare is not working, and i fear it will never work. the best way to fix it is to repeal it and replace it with something that will work. i yield the floor. >> mr. president. >> the senator from utah. >> i have received letters from my constituents who are scared, angry, and confused about the changes there are already facing under obamacare. i have heard countless stories from people losing their coverage and forced to the more expensive plans thanks to the so-called affordable care act. one such story came from kathy in salt lake city. notified by mail that they're existing health care plan was no longer going to be offered. instead, she was presented with an obamacare compliant policy that will increase the deductible from $3,000 to $5,000 to my increaser copays for

doctor visits to 30% in increaser copays for prescription drugs to as much as 50% to. as a result of these changes for health care expenses will exceed your income. to quote her, the claim that only so standard policies were canceled as a lie. the plan i was on was a good policy. she does not trust the new health care website and feels that there is not adequate security to protect her purse on formation. in her words, i would not touch the exchange with the 10-foot pole. she is not alone in feeling this way which spells trouble for these new health care exchanges. mr. president, i yield the floor. >> thank you very much. the republicans time has expired >> mr. president. >> the senator from california. >> mr. president to we have seen

in a rate of my republican colleagues come to the floor which is there right, and i am glad the government is open so that they have their staff to help them prepare their speeches , but i have to say, this is typical of the republicans when it comes to health care. all they do is criticize. not one, not one because i monitor the speeches gave one new idea of how to make sure that our citizens are protected with the insurance that they have or how to ensure the 48 million uninsured americans, not one, with this is the way the republican party has been for years. let's look at what happened when medicare came to the senate floor, medicare, one of the most select programs. 60 percent of republicans in the senate and 60% of house republicans voted against

medicare in 1965. representative tour were all, republicans said we cannot stand idly by as the nation is urged to embark on an ill-conceived adventure in government, the end of which no one can see and for which the patient is certain to be the sufferer. this is typical of republicans through the generation. every time we strive to expand health care, opposed and opposed and tried to a derailment. senator simpson, republican of wyoming, i am disturbed about the effect this legislation would have upon our economy and upon our private insurance system. that is what they said about medicare. and they read. pour stories about it. now, here is what the republicans are saying. they're saying that there is

problem with the health care law that needs to be fixed, which is people who want to keep the substance it plans ravage will keeping their substandard plan. president obama has already said he will fix that. there is legislation to fix it. we will fix it. but that is not good enough for my republican friends to tear it down just like medicare. more recently it wanted to tear down medicare. this is not ancient history. in 1995 the republican house majority leader said medicare is the program i would have no part of in a free world. this is the republican about health care being offered to our people, the same year after reading an effort to raise premiums and costs for seniors newt gingrich said medicare was

going to wither on the vine. and now we have tea partier is standing their saying hands off my medicare. that is how the attached the republicans are. senate majority leader bob dole, hive was there fighting the fight for voting against medicare because we knew he would not work in 1965. now paul rhine's budget in the medicare as we know it. let's be clear. when you see almost the entire republican caucus cannot hear and try to repeal the affordable care act, this is not just bending from today or yesterday or the glitch in the website or problem that we have the we have to fix to the people losing their substandard plans that they want to keep. they never said anything about

the good that the affordable care act is doing for millions of people. because of the affordable care act, mr. president, 3 million young adults are now insured and their parents plan. yet they want to repeal the affordable care act. what is going to happen to those 3 million adults? 71 million americans are getting free preventive care like checkups, birth control, immunizations, 17 million kids with pre-existing conditions can no longer be denied coverage. they want to talk about people who are having a problem, going to fix it. we think it is about 5% of the people, but even if it is one percentage should fix it. now, yesterday we learned in the first month of the open enrollment 106,000 consumers who sign up. if you look at massachusetts

during its first month, mr. president, i am sure you are aware of this being in new jersey, close to massachusetts, only 123 people signed up for coverage. of the 36,002 ultimately signed up in the first year. so let's be clear. we all want, bigger numbers. the affordable care act numbers are four times better than what massachusetts to it in its first month. if you talk to the people of massachusetts, another health care plan. our plan is based upon their plan. by the way, a republican plan. hundreds of thousands started the enrollment process, and i am one of them. i created an account and with a shopping and by my plan. but i am taking my time because i have some time. i will discuss it, decide what is best and sign up i think it

was the secretary sibelius' who said this is not like buying a toaster. this is a commitment for a year. you have to take your time. don't come here and tear down the affordable care act without having to put anything in its place in focus on one problem that the president said he is going to fix and we're going to fix. things are going to pick up. i want to tell you the great news about california. just in the first two weeks of november california's enrollment has doubled. a huge amount of interest in california. people are enrolling. we have a good website. that is important. people are finding affordable care health options. the end of the day when the kings are word oukei believe that the california experience will be repeated across countries to the benefit of all families. so let me break down some of the numbers in california.

the largest in the union. and we are -- i hate to say this , but we are ahead of the curve. during the month of october 3 and and 70,000 californians began the process of signing a for private coverage through our health insurance marketplace. of those over 30,000 californians enrolled in health exchanges and over 72,000 applied for medicaid. so let me just say, we of to an excellent start in california. in october more than 2 million unique visits. in other words, this does not count people going back and back. unique visits. more than 249,000 calls were made to call centers.

they get it down to just a couple of minutes of wait time. today more than 17,000 counselors and agents, county workers and others are been certified tougher in person assistance to california. look. you heard door stories. one side of the story, people having a problem. to fix it. let me tell you what californians are saying. these are all "speed i enroll online on monday. no website trouble. took me about 15 minutes. i will be saving $628 a month after january 1st. so grateful. very on the phone. alcoa cheerful person to talk to . very easy. thank you. and another, the insurance package and getting is more comprehensive and way cheaper

than the one i have had for the last nine years. thank you for creating a marketplace in making the information more accessible and understandable. another, i find the new coverage provisions to be amazing compared to what was there before. many of the plans are cheaper than anything i have seen before. the one i chose hence your deductible. another, simple, straightforward , intuitive. and not have health insurance is meant to 85. so making it unexpectedly easy general. thank you. what we heard from the republicans is, from our group of people who are going to go who have substandard plans that don't meet the standards of the four will character, sometimes they're called john plans, some are little better than shock. many are not there. people, i have to say, they come down here and echo that

sentiment without saying that good things have been done. it is outrageous. two more minutes. >> without objection. >> we now know the history. we now know because i shared with you the history of the republican party. sad to say, but they opposed medicare when it went to end. they tried to tear it down. they still are trying to tear it down in the ryan budget. they come down here and they talk about a problem that exists that we are going to fix. they never said the president is going to fix it off. he may be on the way of fixing it, but they ignore the fact that the sign that they are ahead of where massachusetts was a this time. so tell me how the law is helping the family. able to get insurance firm her

7-year-old daughter who was born with an autoimmune disorder. before the affordable character's past she applied to eight different companies to try to get insurance but none were affordable. after the law went into effect shoes it will to get insurance for $8 a month. it will to get a procedure done to treat her spinal cord problem that could have resulted in paralysis. she said that without the affordable care and my family, and this is a quote, would be bankrupt and she would not have done the health care she needs. obama some of my family's financial ruin. so here is the deal. let's be fair. come down to the floor one after the other end to give, you know, shed light on one problem that we will fix that the president said he will fix and then say you're going to repeal the whole thing. you sound just like your

predecessors who said medicare is a terrible idea. social security, of columbia. that is what this is about. they're going to make history, do the right thing. we're going to fix the problems. and there will be more because that is what happens when you are tackling this big issue. but at the end of the day we will be a better nation, a healthier nation, our children will of a brighter future, and i am just here to serve, i stand with those who want progress. they're not going to tear something dow and go right back to where we were before with parents like these having to choose between feeding their families in getting their kids health care. thank you, and i yield the floor. >> mr. president. >> thank you, mr. president. thank you to the senator from california for telling the stories of people in california which are not unlike the stories in connecticut, an exchange that

is working, if lot of people signing up way above expectations for where we ridge light of the numbers would be. i think it is well for pointing out what is the reality which is that over 40 times the republicans in the house of representatives and in the senate have voted to repeal the health care reform law. and over the last five years using over and over again the mantra of repeal and replace, they have offered absolutely no replacement. mr. president, there was a story in one of the trade publications done his morning saying that their public and charges going to change in strategy. instead of piling repeal vote after repeal vote that we are not just point to come down to the floor and use the committee chairmanship to simply criticize the law and show for the time being their incessant efforts to try to repeal the law entirely.

make no mistake, that continues to be their intention. while they will come down to the floor of the senate as they did this morning and tell a hand full of anecdotes of people who are dissatisfied with the law, the true intentions to get rid of the entire law and go back to a world in which 30 million people in this country had no access to insurance. but if you got sick you lose your insurance, a world in which insurance companies eventually said the rules of the game, the disadvantage of providers and patients. that is what the agenda is, to repeal the law and go back to the status quo which is an acceptable. the highest number of uninsured citizens in the industrialized world, the most expensive health care system by a factor of two compared to all of our c-span to

competitors. and i get it, that there are people who are unhappy and the president is going to make an announcement later today which is going to set up of four to try to fix one of the issues with the law with respect to the cancel policies. but let me tell you a couple of other stories about what the reality of the old system was. kyle is today about 11 years old. when he first came into my office he was an aide-year-old living with hemophilia. and amazingly brave young man who aspires courage and his parents, but kyle has to get three to four injections per week in order to treat his hemophilia. each one of those objections costs $3,000. now, his plan prior to health care reform and the future and that most people did not know was included in the health care

plan. that was a lifetime tap on the amount of money that is health insurance company would pay for his care. now, because kyle was mounting up the bills in the tens of thousands of dollars every week his family was going to it that have very quickly and then be on the puck for those $3,000 injection that he needs to take three to four times per week. that would bankrupt his family. they think their lucky stars that we passed this health care reform off because now insurance has to be real insurance which protect them against their lifetime exposure of high health care costs. think about the family from connecticut. two weeks when her husband switched jobs, and during that there son died diagnosed was --

with cancer. because that was a pre-existing condition president's new insurance plan would not cover their son's treatment. there story, unfortunately, can be told millions of tons over across this country because the bears went bankrupt. they lost their savings, they lost their house, they lost everything as they mounted up huge bills to pay for their son's cancer treatments just because you get diagnosed during the two week time frame in which the family had no health care insurance. that practice since with the implementation of this health care law. no sick person can be denied insurance and the because of pre-existing condition, a diagnosis happened to happen during a small window of time a which a family did not have insurance. i get it that the road has been a little bumpy as we have implemented gives new health care system, but it is nothing compared to the bumps there have

been encountered by millions of families across this country who have been abused by a system that simply does not work. the majority leader is on the floor to muscle of me close by talking about the experience of connecticut. if our biggest problem is that enough people who don't have insurance are not signing of a quick enough for insurance, that's a problem and i will except because it is a problem of we can fix. all we are talking about here is the pace at which people are going for uninsured to insured, we can fix that because we know the product is good. talking about the massachusetts experience in which during the first month of their normal for the massachusetts exchange only 3 percent of the total signed up because people take there time. this is an uneasy position.

but in connecticut where we have an exchange that has been up and running mon-khmer website that is working to win the first month in know what our number was? 11%. we in rhode 10 percent of our expected total in the first 30 days. here is what people say about their experience with connecticut exchange. one person said this is a great resource for canada residents to apply for of coverage. thanks to the health care law. another said, i chose it because i have been denied in the past by other carriers before this law changed. another said, thank you so much for the south carolina. have not been short in a decade. and so, so thankful. another said, thank you for this program. a loss my jaw year ago and could not find anything i can afford enough coverage before this law passed. finally another said, thank you, this law is helpful and appreciated. airbus america.

thank you, president obama. the president will make an announcement that will paid a path forward further the relatively small number of americans who get their insurance on the individual market, some of which have had their plans canceled. but the solution with respect to the timing of enrollment is not to abandon a long. that is the real agenda of people on this floor. the solution is to fix the problem so that like in connecticut, more people across this country can, for the first time, have access to affordable, quality health care. >> thank you, mr. president. i yield the floor. >> the senator from illinois. >> mr. president, i want to thank my colleague from connecticut and california for coming to the floor. for last our republican senators have come to the floor and told a number of stories about individuals.

and i do not dispute the fact that they have brought to the floor. it dispute that characterization of what america faces at this moment time. i supported the affordable character. believe it was the right thing to do and still believe it. i tell you right off the bat, most immigrants and republicans agree it is off to a rocky start this website we are told would be ready by november 30th. i hope it is, and the sooner the better. i am told it is improving by the day. that is good to be americans need access to information. and they have that they can do something for many of them for the first time in their lives, go shopping for health insurance there are a lot of people who have never had that luxury. some of never had health insurance been allies. others have been given a take it or leave it situation with a policy that they are not -- mayor may not be worth anything. listen carefully. i have heard a lot of criticism

and complained to. they want to defund obamacare, delay affordable care, destroy it. they don't have an alternative. oh, we want to repair and replace. well, let's hear your proposal. we never heard one during the course of our debate an increase in the slaughter and a half years ago. we kept waiting for the republican plan. the answer is they had none. apparently they still don't. the reason they don't is the fall back and say, the marketplace decide. no, many of us know that the marketplace and health care personally, we know it's a marketplace that is turned away 40 to 50 million people are uninsured americans and the people who still give sick, still go to the hospital, in these bills are paid by everyone else. the republican party is supposed to be the party of responsibility. what about the responsibility that we all have if we can

afford to have health insurance as a catcher to provide the means for those who cannot. that is is possible. trying to stop this reform is irresponsible. when you get into the specifics on the affordable care act in every republican senator come to the floor and make the case against the specifics. do you know why? cannot. is there a republican senator who will come to the floor and defend the rights of health insurance company to turn down a person or family because of pre-existing condition? that is the situation that we faced when we passed the ford will care act. is there a family in america that does not have someone with a pre-existing condition? most do. my family has. in the past and does not. pre-existing conditions can range from the very serious to things which are chronic and manageable, asthma and diabetes

to cancer survivors. the list is long. the affordable care act says, you cannot turn down a person in america for of insurance because of pre-existing condition. the republicans said they want to repeal that. want to go back to the day when you could turn somebody down because of a pre-existing condition and have the courage to come to the floor and say. they're loma. the bill also says you cannot limit the lifetime payout on health insurance policy. a lot of people thought a hundred dozen dollars as a lot of money for of care until they got into serious situation. one diagnosis, when serious disease, one x in away from medical bills that will wipe out a hundred thousand dollars in midair to. so we put in the affordable carriage, there can be no property of a lifetime limit when it comes to the pad under the health care insurance policy

. the republicans said they want to repeal it. a challenge a republican senator to come to the floor explain that. did you know as well, mr. president, that of the family policies sold in america, 60 percent of the family policies did not cover maternity benefits to back we require the coverage of maternity benefits. now, let me tell you, my wife and nine are not in a situation where we are likely to ever use as personally, but we happen to believe that it is a good thing across america and it is a family friend leaping across america to make sure that the policies cover maternity. does he talk about family values and love of family and babies and children, why in the world would you not want to include the protection of family policies? spread the risk across the population and make sure every family can afford to have prenatal care for a healthy baby and mother.

health insurance policies is to discriminate. that is over. you cannot discriminate against women. you have to be fair in the allocation of the risk. you cannot use gender is a basis for increasing the cost of a policy. the republicans want to repeal that. i am ready for the first republican senator to come to the floor and say health insurance policies because of the free market should be allowed to discriminate against women. that is a reality. the other thing that we provide it with the affordable care act, finally families with children coming of college looking for a job can keep their kids on their health insurance policies tell the age 26. we do not know exactly how many are held by this. some estimate 300,000 plus young people still in their family

policy. why is it a good thing? a lot of young people coming of college may not have a full-time job. if he had never been a mom or dad and not been in a circumstance, called my daughter and said, to your health insurance to mecca don't need it. i'm healthy. as i think they're keeping up the night. the affordable care act provides additional protection for these young americans the largest turnout in life and trying to find a job. republicans want to repeal it. i am waiting for the first republican senator to come to the floor and make that case. we should make sure that your people in their 20's don't have health insurance. that is the result if you repeal the affordable care act. and what about senior citizens? medicaid prescription party provides prescriptions so senior citizens can stay healthy, independent, and strong for as long as possible. the problem we had, of course,

was something called the down level. out of pocket expenses for seniors had to pay for prescriptions. we're closing in filling the done all so that seniors are not giving of their life savings in order to have the prescription drugs that the need for healthy life. they want to repeal that. they want to repeal the affordable care act. i am waiting for the first republican senator to come to the floor and say, seniors ought to pay more for the prescriptions opinion the medicare. that is the result of appeal and therefore will care act. let me just also say, life experience tells a several things. first, premiums on health insurance go up the frequency. your trying to slow down the rate of growth, but it has been going up for a long time. in some markets, for example, when it comes to individual policies people applying, they've gone up rather dramatically, sometimes 15% per year. secondly, in that market of individuals buying health

insurance 67 percent of those policies are canceled every two years. so now they come to the floor until a stories of premiums going up and cancellations. can i remind my friends, that has been going on for a long time. now they blame every cancellation on earful care act, every premium increase and the affordable care act. that is just not factual or true . let me tell you some mail when i have received on the subject. e-mail from a constituent would like to read. in illinois. here is what this constituent writes. a lifelong republican i am appalled by the extremists who have hijacked my party. thoroughly ashamed of all of the temps to defund president obama's of care act. already run medical costs have dropped due to release provisions of the act. if it passes, becomes law, it appears i will save 6,000 per

year. i realize not everyone shares my enthusiasm, but i want to make two comments. the act is broken down into its component parts polls consistently show the american people agree. secondly, and ask is that we give it a fair trial, given a fair chance. two years. of course it will need tweaking in revising, but if it does not work we can repeal it after two years. quite frankly, republican embarrassment to those of us who grew up with a different republican party that cares about people and was not badly trying to exclude as many as possible through a full bigotry and racism. this is too important to let it fail. a stand with the president and democrats on this issue and up to you will do everything in your power to see it remains in force. now take a look at what is going on in this country. senators from states that of come to the floor, and i will use as an example the senators from the, the kentucky, both of

whom will have come to the floor and called for the repeal of the affordable care act pianistic a look at the numbers. flawed start up which i will readily concede. was going on in the state of kentucky? in the state of kentucky 7065 according to the "washington post", 76,294 people have already submitted completed applications under the new health care law. 309,207 are eligible to enroll in a plan that as of this state, 5,586 have selected a plan. kentucky is leading on a per-capita basis many other states, some larger, some smaller. kentucky is leading. two senators come to the floor and rail against the very health care law that the people of kentucky apparently need and want and they're exercising their right to choose. he stepped up and said get out of the way. if you don't want to help kentucky is to get health care

they get out of the way. we would give them a chance to mentees doing it. other states, putting the president and congress, 210 nail and will not cooperate. we wonder why the startup as this low. without the cooperation it makes it more difficult. i'm not making any excuses. as to be improved. and it will be. take a look get that experience in massachusetts, california talked about that earlier. in the first month of the roman in massachusetts 123 people signed up. the first 30 days. by the end of the year 36,000 signed up. the number of uninsured young people went from 25% to 10% within 3 years. massachusetts today, because of the leaders like governor mitt romney in the cooperation of the democratic legislature in a state, nearly universal health insurance coverage. however, the role of was not without problems, just as ours

is. the current governor, duval patrick, said the race series of problems. he also said it was a work in progress for the first few years . the times and problems. i recently met with the doctor from boston. he said people in massachusetts cannot remember what it was like before. they cannot remember what it was like before people at of insurance. this doctor is an oncologist and as a people diagnosed with cancer. in 19 year old woman came into his office before this version of the affordable health care act. he said to her, we can assure you, but we have to do this aggressively. it is going to take keno, radiation and surgery. this 19 year old gentleman says please don't tell my parents. i can't afford to pay for this. if they hear this there will mortgage their home to pay for my medical care, and i don't want them to. well, the parents learned, and

then made the decision in the mortgage their home in their daughter's life was saved. this ontological cancer doctor said to me, senator, i have never run into another case like that since massachusetts passed its affordable of care act the reasons people have basic insurance and basic protection the life-and-death choices of people every single day should be front and center and not the political squabbles that have become the trademark of this town. we have got to understand that there are hard working people across america with no health insurance, families with pre-existing conditions that can get a decent policy and will be given there chance. there will be a better america for it. would say to the republican critics and after this is in place, after thousands, maybe even millions of americans have signed up, you're not going to take away. they will fight to keep it, and i will stand by and that fight to make sure that they have supporters in champions on the

floor of the senate. >> with the senator yield for a couple of questions? >> happy to. >> can i think you so much? i see the senator from colorado is year as well. it is so interesting to see republican senator and republican senator come down here to focus on one of the problems we're having. and not one of them touched any of the issues they spoke about our i spoke about what the senator from connecticut which is the broad look at what we were facing when we passed the affordable care act, the benefits that have gone into place that are saving their families from bankruptcy and saving lives. in nine know my friend was very clear on this. and i think when you said, senator, that to see this become all about politics is something that is so wrong. we all know there is time for politics.

uni are into that. we understand there's a time and place. there's also a time and place to put aside and help our families. i wanted to a ask my friend a couple of questions. to you not remember, as i do, years ago as we were facing a crisis in health care in this nation, we found out from constituents over and over that the insurance company would walk away from them just at the time that they get sick. it up there and a policy like some people think they do, but when they got sick i remembered constituents saying it would get a call, you know, back five years ago you did not mention the fact that you once had high blood pressure. your story. your cancel your policy. as my friend remember that can act as my friend remember learning, as i did, with shock, that being a woman was really a

pre-existing condition, for example, if you were a victim of abuse is one. they said you were too much to risk and turned away. does my friend remember just those two problems before we tackled the affordable care act? >> i think the senator from california. there was a ton as a member of congress and senator when this was a normal request. people would call your office in savannah my wit's end. my health insurance company will not cover the problems of my family faces. can you make a call to an insurance executive? and we have come almost to a person, members of the house and senate have done it tried to get them to open up coverage. that is the reality. frankly, many to any excuse will do. there would disqualify people on pre-existing conditions because as an adolescent the insured had acne. a pre-existing condition subject

to disqualification. well, i see the senator from colorado is on the floor. one to yield them some time. i think my colleague for coming forward. i just a pet some point the republicans who are so adamant about appealing in ending obamacare would have one good idea on their own about providing affordable of insurance to the people across america. we all share the responsibility, in view of the floor. >> just after the senate floor debate president obama announced health-insurance companies will be allowed to continue selling health coverage that does not meet the requirements of the affordable care act. tomorrow the house of representatives is voting on a bill to allow insurers to sell current and new insurance plans that do not meet alcoa requirements. we spoke about the house bill with the congressional reporter. >> well, it looks like one way

or another most americans mobile to hang on to their insurance plans through 2014. jennifer had record is of care reporter for political turning his from capitol hill to lead on that issue, what did we hear from president obama today? >> the president said that he proposed an administrative solution that would allow insurance companies to continue offering plans that they were selling in 2013 and earlier in the 2014. an attempt to provide one year transitional relief to the people who get their cancellation notices of their plan was no longer going to be a viable option under obamacare. >> chairman fred upton of the commerce committee has a bill on the house floor on friday that does something similar. howdahs his bill differ from what the president is proposing? >> it is technical, but the build of the house will vote on tomorrow would allow insurance companies to keep plants and sell them to anybody. with the president is proposing is that those plans can exist

again for only the people who have already have coverage. he says it kind of limits to how many people can get ahold of these plans and don't have the insurance protections of the affordable caritas. they say it is so important to have. >> the health care law has been the focal point for the blast weaker so. will democrats support that bill and of not to they have an alternative that they may get to propose tomorrow? >> bring a lot of pressure. they're very worried about of the constituents at home. and they worry that they're going to get a campaign ad in the next election the says they were helping the president break

his promise that there constituents were able to keep the insurance covers of the light. when the white house came out with their minister the portion today, came to the hill, pitched the solution, so far many democrats were thinking about voting for this bill say that they are reconsidering, that they might oppose it. the white house says that the bill would just undermine the affordable character and they're worried about a lot of the sections. think we will see some democrats vote for the measure. typically most have gotten a little bit of support from republicans and we will probably see a little bit more than normal. i think that a huge defection, hundreds are more democrats won't happen. >> let's switch to the senate and an article in you contributed to combat line saying that senate democrats are not fully satisfied with the obamacare fix.

a picture. what in particular do we hear from the senator today? >> it is interesting. in the house among the democrats were accused. most of the democrats who are facing reelection were not happy with this measure. they still want to see a vote, be able to say that they pass something or at least got a chance to cast a vote in favor of some kind of legislative fix that would restore the promise from the president that they say is broken. the senators are still pushing forward with the proposal. >> our viewers can follow jennifer on twitter and all serve three-year reporting. thank you for joining us. >> thanks a lot. >> there are some serious

scholars. most apartments include their fair share of not ideological academics who offer a straightforward courses, sometimes wonderful courses and women psychology to mastery, women literature. but ideologically statistically challenged hard-liners set the tone in most studies departments , although i am very scene. there is department that devised this, let me know. i would love to visit them. and by the way, conservative women, rich women, a libertarian women, traditionally religious women blocked out.

pistole. >> the head of the transportation administration said the tsa is studying how to improve airport security and response after the shooting at lax. and the national security adv e advisor sits down. a look at the president obama on the announcement on the health care law to allow people to keep their policy. and the upcoming bill in the house aimed at doing the same thing. andy harris of maryland and a congressman from michigan is here to talk about the health care law, and the farm bill law. washington journal is live every morning at 7 a.m. eastern an

c-span. >> the chairman of the house mike mccall said an airline contractor who alerted local law enforcement about the shooting at the lax airport. he questioned the head of the tsa john pistole at this two-hour transportation subcommittee hearing. >> committee on homeland security will come to order. the subcommittee is meeting to hear testimony on the tsa behavior and lessons learned from the tragic shooting at lax on friday october 1st. i would like to welcome everyone

here and thank the witnesses. a lone gunman opened fire at lax and killed one transportation officer, gerardo hernandez, along with an injuring two others. on behalf of the community, our thoughts go out to the agents. transportation officers take grant risk every day and we thank them. i would like to ask everyone to join me in an moment of silence to honor the life of gerardo hernandez. thank you. in light of the recent tragedy that occurred at lax it is critical for tsa to work to

perform a review and make sure resources are being used an effective manner and coordination with law enforcement is seamless. airports are open to anyone who wants to enter, including someone with mulicioush intent. there are unavoidable risks of being in public spaces. it is important to identify if there were things we could learn from. did the tsa and airport police have seamless communication? can thinks be shifted to create more robust?

i don't expect to get all of the answers, but i do expect the screening program, known as spot, deployed 300 officers in an effort to identify passenger that may pose a risk to aviation security. they are not trained law enforcement officers and rely on state and local law enforcement to handle situations that might arise. the way to determine if someone is acting suspicious isn't based on science. the threats are real and colleagues agree we need layers of security. but they have to make sense and can't be based on hunches. they have to be proven.

i want to command pistole for his. his programs are a huge step in the right direction. but spot doesn't address threats from overseas. it may not provide the deterance we are looking for. calling it risk base and proving that is two different things. an officer hasn't informed an officer of someone deemed a terrorist so it is important to measure. human ability to identify deceptive behavior based on indicators is the same or

slightly better than chance. the tsa has limited availability to evaluate's how affective spot is. and it will be years until a record. we recommend limiting future funds until evidence is shown to show that they can use them to identify passenger who seem to be a threat. with that being said, i do see the value of using behavioral analysis to bolster the security but only if we can prove the taxpayer dollars are being used as best as possible. perhaps officers that are trained to directly look for behavior. these are questions we should exam. according to the congressional

research service tsa spot program is the only stand alone behavior protection behavior. if this program worked we might see other agencies with missions deploying the stand alone agents. i look forward to hearing how they plan to address the regulations and address spot's affecti affecti effective ness. mr. richmond will talk for five minutes in his opening statement now. >> thank you for calling this meeting. and the bipartisan manner in which you did. i would yield by opening to the

general lady to the lady from california, waters, so she can make a statement. i need to ask for consent for them to participate in the meeting. >> without objection. >> so ordered. >> thank you very much. i appreciate you mr. richmond for allowing me to give the statement. and chairman mccall and thompson for allowing me to participate which will consider the lessons learned from the shooting that occurred on november 1st at lax. i want to join with my colleagues to honor the live and

service of gerardo hernandez. i honor all of the tsa officers, lax police officers and other first responders who risked their lives to stabilize the sipuatisi situation in the public. they offer 680 flights to 96 cities and 30 foreign countries. in 2012 lax served more than 63 million passenger, processed more than 1.9 tons of cargo and 16 thousand landings and take' offs. the security is of utmost important. the shooting incident raises two

concerns: the first the need for law enforcement officers to be at passenger screening checkpoints. and the second is to have access to security cameras. both issues were raised in the letter from american alliance of police officer to john pistole on september 28th, 2012. more than 13 month before this tragic incident occurred. it was signed my the president of the los angeles peace officer association and the president of the port authority association. in a response dated october 12, 2012 john pistole agreed both merited further discussion. i request the committee include the airport police officer

letter and ad ministration john pistole letter. the fix post method requires a police station to be stationed at the passenger screening checkpoint. the flexible response method allows the police to roam the surrounding area but they are recognize to respond to a problem within a specified program. the letter explained it is impossible for a police officer to respond to a problem with the officer is responding for patrolling an entire terminal. the letter recommends this be a standard for all major airports and would require an officer within 300 feet. lax police officers did provide

fix post and roaming police officers at the time the letter was written. and last april, six months after john pistole agreed to discuss the issue, a discussion was made to wave the fixed post officer and there was none stationed when the shooting began. the airport letter also shutdown the access to cameras. most airports don't have a system and instead airline vendors own and operate their own cameras and there is no requirement they provide the airport police with a camera feed. >> the time has expired. >> i happen this was about spot

program and the tsa spot program. i didn't refer to it specific because i don't think it is viable or doable and i do believe it is profiling. i want to talk about the issues you could entertain. >> time has expired. a gentlemen from texas mr. mccall may be recognized for states >> thank you for holding this hearing and thank you for the witnesses for being here. i would like to commend administrator pistole with the leadership and the pre-check system we have talked about in terms of rolling out across the nation. and i think if we get southwest airlines to sign-up and haz that

is a huge change while being passenger friendly and targeting the threats. your years at tsa you have been a true public servant and we appreciate your dedication to airport and aviation security. two weeks ago a lone gunman carried out a shocking act of violence at los angeles int international airport. the individual who carried out the assault took one life and wond wounded three others. what this demonstrates is how much publics spaces are targets.

the swift response by local law enforcement was fabulous, but there are unanswered questions about the shooting itself. a week after the incident took place i was surprised to learn that the police officer assigned to patrol may not have been in the correct vicinity to respond when the shots were fired. to me this is significant. while we have since been told the officer may have in fact been within the required three minute radius of the checkpoint this issues raises questions about the response protocols in place and how they work. the evacuation that saved lives, no one at the screening checkpoint pushed the panic button that is supposed to be

used in situations to alert local authorities. a landline at the checkpoint was almost used to communicate with police. but the phone was abandoned during the evacuation because it wasn't mobile. police responded based upon a phone call from an airline contractor. the response to the lax shooting was swift and successful. local police, tsa personal and the medical personal who responded deserve tremendous praise. having said that, terrorist are looking for things like this in the system. we must do everything we can to security airports and use elemelamen

limited resources affectively. the response saved lives, the government had four minutes in a time like this is a long time. and with 150 rounds is a long time. it is a miracle more lives were not taken and we thank god that didn't happen. but four minutes to wreak havoc. several questions coming to mind. our emergency response times at airports adequate? does tsa have appropriate plans and means to community with law enforcement in the event a checkpoint is evacuated? lax did exercise, and i commend

john pistole, just weeks before this event. i am pleased that the tsa is undertaking a review to see what lessons to be learned from lac and i look forward to the results. i encourage them to bring in stakeholders. they have a significant role to play. and in addition to the hearing is an opportunity to also exam some of the findings in gao's report on screening passengers by technique program. referred to as spot. i had the opportunity of observing this on 9-11. i am a fan of the program. i have seen it work firsthand.

i have been a strong advocate of this. but the studies have shown less than favorable and show they limit the funding until an accurate study is included and use behavioral indicators to identify behavior. it will be three years before we can begin measuring the effecti effectiveness of spot. i look forward to hearing the argument and the argument that spot is risk-based. i think that is a good premise. i would like to hear the explanation used to support this. i am disappointed with the findings because i believe there is value in associating the behavior. there are century old techniques

including israel. many people point to israel as a model. that allows individuals to assess behavior. but if this program isn't working we need to find something that will more effectively. i am concerned that the tsa will continue to so-call spin wits wheels with this program instead of developing a more effective approach. i hope i am wrong on that. i look forward to discussing the recommendations for this program and also if there are better ways of integrating behavior analysis. perhaps by reinforcing law enforcement and other pre approaches. where we need to do all we can to protect.

>> and to close by again to jump so i admire what you are doing. it isn't easy representing n agency that comes under scrutiny and i think you are doing a good job making that face a better face and more passenger-friendly and targeted toward the terrorist. i don't believe as some say -- i got asked if i favor scrapping the program and i don't. i think detecting behavior is important. but i believe it could be more effective and efficient for the taxpayer and that is what we are here to do. thank you for induend indulging.

>> mr. thompson is no recogniw recognized >> i would like to join my colleagues in expressing sympathy to officer hernandez wife, children, friends and family and all of the employees of the transportation administration. i am joining the chairman and congresswoman waters in introducing a resolution to condemn the shooting at lax. it appears that the majority leaders protocol will not afford for the resolution to be considered on the house floor. to administrative pistole please note and take back to the workforce that this committee

stands with the agency in this trying time. the shooting that took place at lax was a tragic act of violence. all evidence points to a shooter with extreme anti-government views and exclusively targeted tsa employees. these are some of the federal officers for protecting the nation against terrorist attacks. i hope it will result in less rhetoric about deeming transportation officers. and it is my hope that tsa takes a look at how such an incident can be presented and mitigated in the future. i applaud administrator pistole of announcing he is going to conduct a review and for conducting outreach to a wide

variety of people. this review should serve as an opportunity to examine the partn partnership and their programs and policies that affect checkpoint operations. from the shooting at lax we will examine reports issues by the accountability office and the department of homeland security office of inspector general regarding the tsa screening of passengers by observation technique program commonly referred to as spot. goa's report pulls no punches when it comes to this behavior program that cost taxpayers more than $220 million. recommending that congress consider the lack of scientist evidence when making the funding

decisions. the report released in may concluded that tsa couldn't provide evidence of the cost effectiveness of the program. given the limited theres available for transportation security we don't have the luxury of spending hundreds of millions per year on programs for which they can not prove the effectiveness of. since 2007 tsa has spend nearly $1 billion on this program. they admit it will be years before the agency may be able to display the effectiveness of the program. and that means hundreds of million more would need to be spent just to find out whether the program is effective. it is no secret i have been a critic of the spot program since

it inception and expansion prior to be validated. in june i offered an amendment to prohibit tsa from using spot funds. even if i were the most vocal supporter i would not be able to justify after the report that would be examined today. to be clear, i have no doubt the men and women on the front line a are performing liberties

are not a part of the protocol. so you can do behavior detection in countries where civil rights are not part of the protocol. i want to thank each witness appearing before the subcommittee and i look forward

to your testimony and response to toe to questions. and i would like to thank the others on the side to give their opinion. >> opening statements maybe considered for the railroad -- record -- mr. duncan would like to open up for the record. we are pleased to have a panel and the witnesses full written statement appear in the hearing record. john pistole is the first witness. he is administrator at the department of homeland security since 2010. he oversees 60,000 employees and

450 airports and security for highways, ports, mass transit systems. you have a big job and i commend you for the job you are doing. the chair recognizes mr. pistole to testify. >> thank you the members of the committee. let me start off by expressing by deep appreciation to you chairman and others who have expressed sympathy for hernandez and his family and the two other officers who were shot and wounded on november 1st. there was great outpouring at the memorial service held by the city of los angeles and the local police. law enforcement community

pulling together and demonstr e demonstrating support for officer hernandez family and the two other officers and family. so thank you for that. the bottom line is these are challenging time for members of tsa employees especially those that lax who have been affected by this and lost a wellli-liked and well-respected colleague. i want to commend the action of those at the checkpoint for their action in helping move passenger away from the point of danger. the two officers who were injured were wounded because they probably stayed too long helping an elderly gentlemen

away from the checkpoint and they were shot as the shooter went to the upper level. the question is what is the response to the trammigic incid. i will outline five things we have done. during the shooting i convened a crisis action team by senior leadership at tsa to assess what was going on even during the lockdown after the shooting. and challenged the senior leadership team come up with what can be done to protect the officers at the checkpoints around the koucountry. we worked to deploy uniform officers in and around checkpoints in the hours and

following that's. that is continuing. third we redeployed a number of viper teams for that response to and just the notion of having additional security officers protected with this show of force. we have communicated with the workforce regarding the events because the absence of information is a concern. and we have listened to their concerns particularly at lax where i have visited twice in the last ten days to hear concerns and provide counselors who hundreds of tsa have used the services. and fifth last thursday there was a meeting with stakeholders from the aviation sector and law enforcement agencies and

representatives from 30 agencies to listen and hear their views on what may happen or be some of the solutions as we look forward. that review is ongoing and i look forward to updating the committee and getting input on possible steps we can take. second, the other issue we are here for today is on the behavioral detection program, spot as it is referred to. over the last several years both from this subcommittee, full committee and american people, there has been call for tsa to use common sense in doing things and being less invasive. fewer pat downs and imaging machines. and we have done hose things and that is what risked-base security is about. 15 steps including the

pre-check. a known crew member for pilots. and expanding the partnership to allow dod members to go through expedited screenings. these are to bring common sense and less invasiveness in the program. and management inclusion and our behavioral detection officers serve a key function and for example on monday this week we had 80,000 passenger around the country go to expedited screening because of the behaviors not observing anything suspigs -- suspicious -- we have increased our gel goal and met

it. they have done several studies on the program and the 2010 review was very helpful to us. it was helpful so we can take the strength to the program. we recognize the work they have done. we disagree with conclusions but recognize the valid points. we can and will strengthen the program. this initiative is the one that looks at intent and motivation rather than a prohibited item. that is important to look at that. so defunding the program isn't the answer. and i would say if we did that i would envision viewer passenger going through expedited screening, increased pat downs

and more complaints by the public. >> thank you, administrator pisole. >> daniel gerstein gained experience experience in sectors while serving in positions of civilian government. before joining dhs he served in the office of the secretary of defense. i am disappointed you failed to comply with the committee rules for not submitting a written testimony for the letter. i believe it is the first appearance as acting secretary for snt. i am willing to wave this requirement rather than barring you from giving oral presentation but please note we are making an exception and

failure to submit impedes the oversight and prevents our audibili ability to prepare. so i ask for you to cooperate in the future. but at this point the chair does recognize you to testify, sur. >> thank you, mr. chairman. sorry for that. good morning members of the committee. i appreciate the opportunity to appear before you with administrator pistole to discuss the collaboration. this collaboration occurs across the broad range of programs. all of our efforts are designed to support tsa and their efforts to improve security effecti effectiveness and passenger

experience. i am develop three overarching themes. the spot program is part of a layered security system. it doesn't exist in isolation and must be considered in terms of the contribution to improving the overall detection of people that knowingly try to defeat the security process. relying on any single process isn't an acceptable strategy. this layered program consist of several opportunities. behavioral detection officers check for threatening materials and carry items and check bags are screened as well before allowed. there are unpredictable protocol

on planes to identify and mitigate threats. the focus is to increase the probability of a person trying to defeat the security process. second, they are based on research and represent the best practices. they have become accepted based on years of experience in these fields in attempting to identify persons that should receive additional scrutiny. what the spot process does that hasn't been done previous is identify and assess a broad range of characteristics and provide a scoring system. as part of the spot effort in 2009, snt initiated a research

program and they contact traed ari one of the largest non-profit organizations that design and assess independent research. the spot identified high risk travelers nine times more often. it is worth noting a number of other governments have developed and deployed behavior detection protocols. i have toured the facilities and received briefings in australia and israel. we recognize the results of the study must be considered in the context of the limitations

described. we believe the sampling and measurement errors that are sited are due to limitations and they are minimal given the large sample and multiple outcomes around important population parameter essence. snt does agree with the primary studies design and recommendations for further research. further more additional research could be conducted to include a more extensive review of the conduct and reliable study and empirical comparison of spot with other screening programs. somef the efforts are ongoing although snt isn't involved in those study efforts. my third and final point is collaboration between tsa and

snt. our relationship has never been stronger. in physical year 2013, rnd supported 19 projects and $108 million. we work with them on examining checkpoint operations to determine how business process refo reform and others can be employed to enhance checkpoints over the next 3-5 year period. it could boost effective ness and boost the experience for the customer. we look forward to work wilderness generation the committee on the program and improving performance of existing and emerging

operations. i thank you for the opportunity to present before you and present oral remarks. >> stephen lord is the managing direct of the team at the government accountable officer. he oversees forensic evidence and abuse. the chairman recognizes you to testify. >> thank you, chairman hudson and others. i am happy to be here to discuss the new report released yesterday. the recent events remind us of the role tsa plays in providing support at the airport. i do agree with mr. pist elpist

that it is important that focus on highest need and potential and focus on screening for bad apples and moving away from screening for prohibited items or objects. the question i am hoping today's hearing can answer is what is the best way to do that. tsa spent $900 million since 07 on the spot report. i would like to highlight things. research supporting the behavior indicators to identify threats. and whether tsa has the data necessary to assess their effeceffec effectiveness of the program. the research doesn't show whether behavior indicators can be used to identify threats and

deception or mal-intent. hundreds of studies so the ability of humans to identify deception based on behaviors is same or roughly especially the same as chance. slightly greater than chance. 54 percent. and dhs's validation study of the program, we view it as an important initial step, had design limitations so you have to be cautious about the findings. the study made 13 recommend azs. the study relied on the database that we found was unreliable for conducting the analysis of

behaviors and outcome. the database only allowed them to enter concern number of behaviors even though you know the behavior detection officers are trained to identify 94 accept -- separate -- indicators. they agree some of the indicators are subjective. we found the passenger referral rate, the rate they are pulled out of line, ranged from 0-26 a month. and the average base was 1.6 per month. so this raised questions about the usefulness of the

indicators. and they have limited information to evaluate the prapra program. they are taking steps to help craft better americmeasures and plan to develop 40 measures and that will help them gain insight and on the performance of individuals and ensure they are consiste consistently playing them. they will need three mere more years to this and in closing it doesn't appear to talk to the behavior indicators to be used in the individuals who might pose a threat to aviation. it is is still in the process of evaluating the effectiveness of the program it is important to

note this started in 2007. usually you validate first and then deploy. and tsa chose to deploy at the same time they were validating. and this is why we recommend they limit future funding until they can show evidence these indicators could be used effectively. the members are worker hard to make it work, but it should be based on sound evidence and not hope and faith alone. this concludes my remarks. >> charles edward is the inspector general of homeland

security. he has over 20 years in experience with the government. the share recognizes mr. edwards to testify. >> good morning members of the subcommittee. thank you for inviting me to testify today. i would like to take a moment to express my sympathy for the tsa officer gerardo hernandez was killed and other officials were wounded one of who is a behavior detection officer. $870 million has been spent on the screening of passenger by observation technique program commonly called spot. it is operating in 176 airports and more than 2,800 behavior

detection officers. they are not started a plan to assess or ensure the program's success. my testimony is addressing the need for improvement in two areas. first measure. ment of the effective ness and training for bdo's. they don't have a plan that will identify goals and missions needed to check performance measure. their purpose is to identify high-risk individuals but they have not given performance measure for the program. instead they collect data, such as the number of passenger

referred, but that doesn't provide measures of effecti effectiveness. they document items and undeclared aliens but this program doesn't do that. additionally our testing showed that data collected wasn't complete or accurate always. tsa hasn't developed a training strategy for the goals of the program. video training isn't consistently provided and there is no process to evaluate video instructors. acknowledging the skills are parishible they didn't start it

until five years after the start of the program. of the 88 eligible we contacted 65 or 74 percent had not received the refresher training. they might be operating at vary levels of proficiency. and there is no program to provide training to instructors to assure they have the knowledge to instruct the classes. in response to the report and recommendations officials have taken numerous steps to addressing these issues. officials have provided verification that measures are being used to collect the data and there is a plan for current training for video instructors

and refresher training for the video workforce. and the ones that have completed the video plan that contains tools designed to help the program office gauge selection, allocation and performance. without the spot plan that contains appropriate measures tsa cannot evaluate the performance of the program to ensure that passenger at the airport are screened in an objective manner are showed it is cost effective and justifies the expansion. >> thank you, mr. edwards. we appreciate you being here. i recognize myself for five question to ask questions. administrat administrator pistole i was

pleased to learn that tsa trained for an active shooter situation recently and that helped the response to the actually shooting situation that led to saving lives. they knew what to do exactly and certainly saved lives as a result. as chairman mccall indicated the communication between the police and tsa when shots were fired broke down and could have been connected better. do you agree communication is one area you need to review? >> yes. >> thank you. during the time of the shooting at lax were there any bdo's in terminal 3 when the shooting took place? did they witness the behavior of the shooter before the incident took place? >> they were deployed in terminal 3. the area the shooting took place was on a lower level before the

actual checkpoint so the initial officer hernandez that the shooter encountered that was seconds after the shooter entered the terminal so there are none there at that level. but they are stations and one was up there after the shooting took place. >> can you explain the protocol they follow when they refer to local enforcement? >> they work in pairs so it isn't isolated. if one makes an observation they confer with their partner to see if that is what they observe. depending on what the behavior is they may engage the passenger themselves most likely to get a sense of that person and who

they are. if it warrants a law enforcement response because it is something that is beyond the norm or if they have been refer today second screening and there is an issue there that is when the law enforcement officers are called in to help with the situation >> are they able to contact local law enforcement through radio communication or how does that take place? >> 450 airports and depending on what the airport is and what the communication apparatus is. they have radios they can call into a command post which is staffed, or a coordination system depending on where you are, that is staffed by tsa employees or airport police if they are onsite.

depends on the airport. a lot do have an officer at the podium check-in. >> and is the local law enforcement required to responds? if so, how quickly are they required to be present to respond to that? >> generally there is about 330 there is a law enforcement reimbursement agreement where we help pay for the cost of the officers to be present in those airports under the security aviation program there is an agreed upon response time and that is typically five minutes. but in smaller ones it might be 10-15. it is typically five minutes and

that is an agreement between the tsa and police. >> do you think the response time is efficient? >> that was designed with the idea you may find somebody not causing intent to do harm in the sense of having a gun or prohibited item. gi given a shooting we are evaluating that. and even though the police responded and stopped the target within four minutes. there are dozens of passenger he could have shot and walked past. there are people at his feet and he goes back to shoot officer hernandez the second time passenger are laying on the floor right by him.

so clearly five minutes was too long in this case and that is something we are looking at as part of the review. our time is expired and we recognize mr. richmond for questions. >> thank you, mr. chairman.

it's difficult to measure whether it consistently honing in on the same behavior will -- in fact, that is why you see a great der ration. we saw an average of 0 to 26 referral per month on average. >> first of all, thank you for your service. let me ask you, did any other referrals by our